


Maps

by TheLaughingStar



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Conflict, Eventual Relationships, Growing Up, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-War, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-20 23:12:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6028933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLaughingStar/pseuds/TheLaughingStar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles that give glimpses of Duo and Wufei's life after the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. beginning

Everything needs a beginning for there to be an end. The day needed an awakening of a soul, only to end once eyes closed. The rising of the moon to put the sun to sleep. The dimming of the colony’s lights so it could imitate the dark on earth that lulled the population—most of the time. Lamp lights flickering on. Air getting colder. It was the end of another day, and the end of a long week where many left work, looking forward to the weekend at home.

But to him, home was not an option.

The couch in the lounge room would suffice for now. He had saved some money, however there was little time to convince himself that he needed a place to stay. It didn’t feel right. None of it did. Maybe a bed, a one roomed apartment. Not a ‘home.’ Home was long gone.

A sigh escaped his lips, fingers gingerly steeping the small tea bag into his paper cup. Wufei was outside of one of the HQ buildings, taking a break from working a later shift—only a few hours left until he was off, and even then, he needed a break from being inside the same room for more than 24 hours.

Breathe. In deep. Lungs filled with recycled air. And finally, out.

Then a click far off, like that of many others leaving the facility. Footsteps would just continue on, walking off to the garage or leave into the sidewalk to get a cab. But, unfortunately, this pair got a bit closer. And closer. Enough to make jaw clench tight as the peace of mind sort of vanished from Wufei’s head. Probably it was someone els—

“’Sup, ‘Fei? Guessing you’re stuck here like me tonight.” Oh of course not. How foolish of him to think this would have been anyone else but Duo.

“Wu. Fei. My name is Wufei.” He gritted his teeth, already tired of having to correct the braided hair fool. He disliked uncalled for nicknames.

“Okay okay, geez!” With a sniffle, rubbing a pointy nose against the sleeve of his jacket, Duo invited himself to sit next to the gundam pilot on the bench perched outside of the building. His other hand was occupied with a cup of coffee, filled to the brim and smelling sickly sweet. The young man had obviously abused of the sugary creamers in the lounge. Again. “This is going to be a long night.” Muttering, Duo sipped his drink, jumping up a little as he burned the tip of his upper lip and cursing under his breath.

An irritated frown appeared on Wufei’s forehead, eyes discreetly glancing sideways to his now break companion. Then averted his eyes back to his paper cup, bringing it closer to his face. The smell of unsweetened earl grey was of some relief.

“Anyway, Wufei… I was wondering,” Duo adjusted himself on the seat again, blowing air into his cup so the coffee would cool down faster. “If you’ve found a place to stay yet?”

“…” That question made the young Chinese man finally turn to look at Duo. One eyebrow arched up, curious at the inquiry which, honestly, wasn’t one bit of the American’s business. Yet, he bit back his need to snap and instead merely asked. “Why?” There were only a few logical answers, but he wanted to know which one it was for Duo.

“Uh… Well,” With a bit of a start, the American looked away from his coffee to quickly asses Wufei’s expression. Was it a bad time to bring up anything, or a good time? Risky? Wheels turned, and Duo bit the inside of his cheek. Better now than never. What was the worst that could happen? “I was thinking that, maybe, if you didn’t find a place to stay, and I’m in the same boat…”

Oh. Oh yeah, now Wufei knew where this was going.

“You know, we could probably rent an apartment—“

“No.”

“No what? Are you in the same boat or…?” Duo blinked confused.

“Yes to being in the same boat, no to having a roommate.” Eyes narrowed, not exactly welcoming any sort of company near him—especially long term. Especially one that could possibly be loud, not give him moments of peace when needed. Just…

“Oh c’mon Wufei!” Duo complained.

“It’s a bad idea.”

“No it’s not, and I can prove it to you!” The Gundam pilot swiftly put down his cup on the bench before pulling out a folded piece of paper from one of his pockets. Once unfolded, scribbled handwriting of Duo’s blue penned thought process was evident. “I researched several places nearby, and even calculated any public transportation we’d need if we end up having to get somewhere far away. Dividing living costs, it’ll be easy for us to save up money and not get stuck in a hotel or an assigned dorm.” With that, he handed it over to Wufei.

Who, in turn, actually decided to accept the piece of paper and give it a look. Again, scrutinizing everything. There was logic to everything Duo mentioned, however, a few things didn’t add up.

“And I figured you wouldn’t want to be assigned a dorm as well. You don’t look the type to deal well with that, if you don’t mind me saying.” Duo added, grabbing his cup of coffee and smiling as he was able to take his first good sip from the slurry sweetness without burning himself.

“But you are the type to revel in a set up like that.” Dark eyes glanced up from the piece of paper, still wondering why Duo came to him with this proposal in the first place.

“Sure, I mean… Yeah. Yeah I know. But I actually don’t want to be stuck in a dorm like that, or surrounded by work all the time and coworkers I don’t even know.” As the young pilot spoke, his eyes darted from his coffee to Wufei, and back. “Look, I don’t want to be stuck here, and I don’t have a quick way out right now unless I have a roommate that I won’t end up freaking out, or chocking to death.”

Now that was something Wufei could understand, his own frown softening a little. Since the war was over, all of their experiences placed them in a different state of mind than the norm, even with those that were working in the Preventers. It didn’t matter in the end… They were five of a kind. Made into fighters that somehow came out alive in the end. So, with all that happened, they had to find a sense of normality to fit into a place not meant for them. A thought that even bothered him during nights where he should have been sleeping. At least they’d be able to understand each other when it came to what they’ve been through.

In a way at least.

Deep breath. It still made him slightly irritated that he was actually considering Duo’s idea. “ _If_ ,” he emphasized before continuing, “This were to happen, we’ll have to agree on a couple of things.”

That brightened Duo up, eyes going wide with an excitement that he managed to convince the least likely pilot to his idea. He grinned. “I’m not surprised, but I’m sure we’ll manage that! What all do I have to say yes to?”

“You’re too optimistic about this shit…” Wufei handed back the piece of paper and took a long drink from his tea. “I don’t know yet. It’s been a while since I had a place to stay. I would preferably want it to be clean most of the time—“

“I’m okay with that! As long as I get to do what I want to my own room, right?”

“I suppose.” He grimaced. This felt like a bad idea. That or he was growing anxious and didn’t want to admit it.

“What else?”

“I don’t know yet! We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, if I say yes!” Wufei finally snapped a little.

“Okay okay, chillax!” However, the bite didn’t diminish the excitement for Duo.

For some reason, Wufei felt that he already gave an answer either way—and felt like he was fucked for it. _Shit_.


	2. accusation

The apartment was barely full of anything. The living room was small, but since it only had a small sofa in it, it seemed larger. ‘Unfirnished.’ No coffee table. No lamps. Just ivory carpet that covered the floor, and thankfully it had the minimal amount of stains. The windows also had blinds, which Wufei was thankful for—maybe he’d get heavy curtains later, if this ends up becoming a good place to stay. The kitchen was ‘white’ in terms of the tiling, but obviously used. Certain corners were yellowing, and there were scratches in the drawers and cabinets. At least the stove worked, and so did the microwave and sink. If it were up to Duo, they wouldn’t have a kitchen to begin with. As for the single restroom they had, it was in a similar state as the kitchen. Importantly however, everything worked as it should. The shower just needed a good scrubbing. And finally, two rooms. One next to the other. Each only had a closet and a mattress. It was enough to start off with. They could sleep at least. Put away the things they owned so far.

Acquiring the rest, or what they could, was very much an adventure in its own. Two changes of bedsheets. The minimal cleaning supplies, and toiletries. Towels. Some dishes, silverware, cups, and of course, food. Well, not actual food but could it fill up the belly if needed: cups of ramen noodles, hot pockets, canned soups, and so forth. Something that made Wufei cringe since he would prefer actual food but this would have to do for now. Whereas, Duo was rather excited about the additions.

One thing was indeed required and that Wufei bought for himself. A kettle. On that same vein, Duo obtained the coffee maker with the same thought. Hot water and caffeine.

–

It had been a few weeks now. Whether or not it was a good thing that they had similar working schedules was yet to be decided. Wufei was usually awake and fully dressed in the early hours of the morning, and he would witness Duo struggling to crawl out of bed, stay awake and drinking a whole pot of coffee before finally getting enough energy to actually care. It was an interesting view on the American. He would have never picked Duo as a non-morning person. But even if the discovery was interesting, it was not enough for Wufei to want to be around the young man after the caffeine kicked in. The idiot would not shut up. Useless chatter, complaints, comments, excited gibberish, just about everything came out of that mouth at full speed of a rising headache.

At least they weren’t near each other during work. Sometimes even after work, when they left. Wufei would get up earlier, although Duo was scheduled for an earlier shift than he was. So the American would leave and get back first, which actually was a surprise one after the other once he got back later. Such as boot marks on the carpet, or dirty dishes in the sink. Small surprises that irked him, but didn’t raise his voice about it either. No use making a damn fuss over something that could easily be dealt with like knocking on Duo’s door and calmly reminding the man to clean up after himself. Such things were met with a sheepish laugh and a shrug before it was done.

However, what took the cake was an occurrence that happened after a particularly stressful day. Stayed at work later than usual and missed the first dart train—which made Wufei shove ‘motorcycle’ to the top of his mental priority list of necessary purchases as his last one got, unfortunately, destroyed. Then as he walked up the stairs, he heard a very distinct alarm going off somewhere. A fire alarm in one of the apartments. Once closer, he realized it was actually coming from his… Wufei cursed and ran, unlocking the door only to be greeted with a faint cloud of smoke and witnessing Duo waving a towel around to disperse the smoke away from the alarm.

“What the _fuck_ did you do?!” This time, Wufei’s voice raised a notch with obvious anger.

“Hello to you too, sunshine!” Duo ignored the ire and dragged the sofa to where he needed before climbing up to turn off the alarm.

He closed the door behind him, took off his shoes before running in to see what ended up in flames. In the kitchen, of course, but what? A brand new frying pan, actually, and the bottom portion of the cabinets. Both were black. Off to the side, there was a small box with a small portion of necessary pans that was recently purchased, and a carton of eggs. By the stove, an uncapped nonstick spray.

“I was trying to cook an egg!” Duo called back from the living room.

“I deduced that! But how did you catch the cabinets on fire?” Wufei looked back, irritated and bewildered, and somewhat deciding if he should say thank you for the new pans or not.

“That damn spray thingy! The stove lit it up and everything went up in flames!” Duo made a booming motion with his arms and just then, Wufei noticed that some of the man’s front bangs were burnt off.

He blinked, a hand rubbing against his face. Dark eyes stared at the one spot of obviously missing chestnut hair, to Duo’s face, then turning back into the kitchen where there was still some smoke lingering in the air. Then the whole thing came to life in Wufei’s head and the first jitters of mirth finally came to life that he tried to zip his lips, but to no avail. His shoulders shook.

Duo looked surprised as well as confused. It was rare to see Wufei laugh at anything. “W-what?” The American was expecting more cussing than this.

“You—“ He breathed. Oh damn he was too tired. “Fucked up your—“ Wufei pointed his finger to his own forehead as he couldn’t finish the sentence. He hasn’t laughed like this in a long while.

With a hand combing through the front, Duo’s hands went slightly black and he even felt the difference in his front hair line. “… _Goddamnit!_ ” And ran into the bathroom. “Holy shit I even burned off some of my eyebrows! I’m going to look like a jackass now!”

Wufei slid to the floor, hardly breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny doodle continuation found [here](http://thelaughingstar.tumblr.com/post/128162599669/this-isnt-funny-wufei-youre-lucky-it-was).


	3. restless

What was it about the weekend of Valentine’s Day that made Duo grit his teeth every time he passed by stores covered in the iconic red and pink decorations? When romantic music blasted from tablets, speakers, computers, cars and other devices across the whole of the colony? The sickly smell of sugary sweets and chocolate that usually got his attention quickly became a slight annoyance. Images of flowers and rings and plush toys with ribbons on them…

He’d given his back to them and walked down the liquor aisle instead, looking for a strong whiskey. Did he even want to spend that much for a Jack Daniels? Considering how much he had to pull together so his and Wufei’s rent would meet for that month, the proper answer was no. No he didn’t have enough. He shouldn’t even consider drinking as much as his mood was suggesting to in the first place.

Fuck it though, right? At least not to hear the voice of his roommate complaining about the purchase, Duo grabbed the least expensive bottle from the whiskey section and marched off, grabbing two frozen pizzas on his way to the registers.

–

Keys in, turn of the locked, click and open. Wufei’s nose was greeted by the smell of grease and cheese, warm air and something blaring from Duo’s laptop that was resting on top of the kitchen counter. This was a slight improvement to smelling burnt food or ramen noodles. However the noise wasn’t. With a sigh, he walked in and locked the door behind him.

“Bad day?” Wufei asked, observing Duo’s slightly unusual tense lean over the counter, hands gripping jaw and narrowed eyes.

“Nah, it was normal.” Duo shook his head.

“Then why am I getting the impression you’re in a foul mood?” Wufei took off his coat and folded it, taking it and his messenger bag to his room.

“Just _am_ , ‘Fei. Can I not be in a bad mood?”

“ _Wufei._ ” He corrected Duo. “And I didn’t say you couldn’t.”

“Okay then lay off, it’s not going to rival your dumbass temper.”

That reply earned Duo Wufei leaning out of his room with an angrily questionable look. What the fuck was this? “By all means, pick a fight with me.” He answered back before he saw the bottle of whiskey behind the counter. Only the tip of the bottle was visible, but since they hardly had any alcohol in their place, it was very much recognizable for him. “Nevermind, I don’t fight with fucking drunks.” He disappeared into his room again.

“I’m not drunk!”

“Liar!”

“I’m not lying!” Duo reached over the counter for the whiskey bottle to try and prove a point—that being that almost half of it was already gone and not the entire thing. “See?”

Wufei came out of his room, now dressed up with comfortable clothes and arms crossed as he looked at the evidence with a judgmental stare. That meant jack shit to him and only proved a point. He glanced back at Duo’s face, noting the frustration on the freckled young man. “I see a bottle you’ve been nursing for about a few hours. If you’re not drunk, then you’re buzzed and under influence.”

Duo rolled his eyes and looked away. “Whatever.”

This irritated Wufei more than being outright picked on for a fight. “No.” He approach but still kept a respectable distance from his roommate—especially since he saw those dark blue eyes glance quickly at him dangerously, itching for something. His intention was for a verbal confrontation, not a physical one and to much less break Duo’s arm. “If the problem is with me, or caused by something I did, fucking tell me. If not, don’t take it out on me. I don’t have time to drag out your childish antics throughout the night.”

With this, Duo grits his teeth again. Yeah sure, Wufei was right and it was frustration that it was coming from the one guy that was prone to temper tantrums. Then again, Duo had no business baring his teeth at someone that had no idea why he had been in a bad mood since that afternoon. After a couple of minutes, silence almost heavy between—albeit the laptop blasting whatever nonsense—he finally sighed. Deep. “Just not looking forward to this weekend.” He mumbled.

Wufei lifted an eyebrow at this. “For any particular reason you’d like to discuss about?”

“Nope.” Duo lied. “Just don’t like Valentine’s Day.” Well, partially lied. Omitted. There was a reason behind his distaste for it, but not one he wanted to even share.

“Ah.” Wufei blinked, eyes averting to a blank spot on the floor as he actually thought about it. His version of Valentine’s Day was different, considering his colony celebrated it for different reasons. It wasn’t Westernized or modified by different cultures in the colonies.

“You forgot it was this weekend?”

“No, just don’t care for it.” He looked back up and shrugged. “Your culture celebrates it differently from mine.”

“…Huh. Keep forgetting about that.” Duo blinked, his anger slowly draining from his face.

“Not surprised.”

Duo’s eyes almost narrowed at the small jab, but the watch on the oven dinged. Food was slightly more important than whatever smart ass reply he could throw in. “Hungry?” When Wufei nodded, Duo finally leaned away from the counter and made his way to the stove. “By the way, if you want some of that whiskey, you’re welcome to it.” He had not seen the resulting grimace Wufei gave.

“I’ll pass.”

“Not your thing?” Duo turned around, genuinely curious.

“Unless it’s mixed with something, no.” Wufei wasn’t too fond of the bitter and sour tasting drinks.

“Oh, if I’d known that I would’ve bought us some coke too.” This was news to him, and sort of painted his roommate differently. He never thought of Wufei beyond angry and prudish.

“No need to waste more money on this sort of thing.”

“Hey, relax some okay? I don’t spend money on stupid stuff all the time.” Duo crouched after he slipped on oven mittens. The hot blast of air smacked him in the face. “Arg-“

“Don’t burn off your eyebrows again.” Wufei discreetly smirked.

“ _Oh fuck you, ‘Fei!_ ”


	4. snowflake

There had been a silent battle since day one, where the thermostat’s numbers seem to change at will. Or at least Duo figured that was the case when he and Wufei first moved in. When he would set the numbers to 65, he’d later notice that the air was suddenly warmer. Go back, check, and the stats were 80. Well shit, no no that wasn’t what he wanted. Back to 65.

It took Duo pulling the thermostat apart and putting it back together to Wufei finally confronting him about the damn thing in the middle of the night. A few bangs on the door and Duo jumped up from his bed and reaching for his gun before he heard his roommate’s voice. “Stop fucking with the air conditioner, it’s cold!” After that, everything locked into place.

“…Oh!” Duo let go of the hand gun and flopped back on his mattress, trying to catch his breath. “Oh shit I thought something was happening.”

“It was! A blizzard in the damn apartment!” Wufei shouted angrily. It prompted Duo to get out of his bed, boxers only and yawning.

He opened the door to find Wufei in long pajama pants, a shirt and a fuzzy blanket draped over those shoulders—almost looking like a legitimate child instead of the intimidating Gundam pilot Duo shared a prison cell with. “Chill.”

“It’s damn well _chilled_ enough. Stop putting it at 65 degrees.” Wufei huffed, visibly irritated.

“I like it cold though.” Duo sighed, frowning as he kept looking down at his short roommate.

“I don’t.”

“80’s too much, ‘Fei.” Duo yawned again, hearing his roommate mumble the correct name instead. _Wufei. Wu. Fei._ But it was 3 AM and he honestly couldn’t give a shit right now.

“So is 65. It’s too cold.”

“You can layer it up when it’s cold though. When it’s hot it’s like… sweaty and all that crap.” Duo complained, eyes closed and leaning against the door frame. He was very tired.

Wufei on the other hand huffed again before thinking for a second. They wouldn’t get anywhere like this. “What about 75?”

“Huh?” That woke Duo up. “Oh, we’re compromising?” When Wufei nodded at him, Duo’s eyebrows lifted in slight surprise. Not something he expected from his roommate. “…What about 70?”

“73.”

“…okay.”

“I’m setting it and it’s not moving from that number.” Wufei then marched off.

“…argh.” Duo closed his door and crawled himself back to bed.

–

Ever since that confrontation, Duo at least started to pay attention more—or noticed a few more things. Such as the usual temperature at the Preventers Headquarters being around 69 to 70, and how Wufei still wore that jacket around all the time. He on the other hand has his tied around his waist until some superior scolded him for it. He noticed how his roommate usually wore longer pants and long sleeves back at their apartment. Or how Wufei carried a coat around more often than not nowadays.

Huh.

“Hey Trowa?”

“Hm.”

“You know a little about ‘Fei, right?” Duo was on break and barged into the tall pilot that was currently doing prints of a large report. When Trowa turned around with a frown, Duo lifted his hands. “Like, you’re good at noticing things, right?”

Trowa shrugged as a response.

Duo took that as a yes. “Has Wufei’s blood always run cold?”

With a blink, hazel eyes bounced to a blank spot to think before looking back at Duo with an answer. “Probably.”

“Really? Was I the only one that didn’t notice this? Whenever I saw him during the war, he’d wear sleeveless tanks and stuff like that.”

“He was more active during the war.” Trowa shrugged and turned away.

“So was I but my temperature didn’t change much.”

“Duo?”

“What?”

“Why don’t you ask him instead?”

“…Dude, have you ever tried simply asking ‘Fei for anything?”

“Just because you have a hard time talking about people’s past lives doesn’t mean others aren’t able to.”

That took out whatever air of comfort Duo had because those words punched him in the gut. Being a conversational person was what he usually was to begin with, but nothing that truly dug in deep enough for substantial-ness. Nothing that invited the possibilities to properly know someone or even try to form a lasting bond… Beyond the connections he made with the other pilots due to their similar ideals and the war itself.

_‘You’re a fucking fake, Duo!’_

–

It was grocery day. They would both share some money together to buy some food that they could properly cook—or learn to—since Duo had purchased those pots and pans. It was some of the few moments they both spent together, one pushing the cart and the other reading from the list and putting things in… Or taking them out because Duo sneaked in something they knew they couldn’t afford right now.

“A fan? Really?” Wufei picked up the small box from the cart and lifted an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah I mean… It could be useful.” Duo shrugged.

“For what?”

“For me, if you wanted to put the temperature a bit higher and be more comfortable.” Duo didn’t look at his roommate when he said this.

Whereas Wufei looked utterly surprised at him. Even slightly marveled. After a moment, the box was lowered back down into the cart.

“Figured you might already be feeling cold everywhere else, so your room shouldn’t be the place for that.” Duo added.

“Thank you.” Wufei kept watching Duo, still surprised by the gesture and words.

Duo nodded, biting his own tongue. He felt awkward having someone look at him the way he imagined his roommate was right now. Either confused or trying to figure him out, either one made him uncomfortable in some way or another. He was unaware that instead, Wufei merely gave a soft smile and kept on walking, fingers grabbing ahold of the front of the cart to tug on.

The rest of shop continued in silence.


	5. haze

Whatever news that fell down the grapevine was something the Preventer workers and agents milked on before bracing themselves. When the organization started, there weren’t many fires they had to put out—but now it was all about the size of the problems that did occur. How big was it really, or was it just a small amount of people that thought they could disrupt peace. How many of them would it take? Would they have to use weapons for it? Or even…

Duo worked on one of the biggest drawing tablets available. Holographic, sensitive to touch and pressure and the flick of a finger. It drove him absolutely bonkers when he first started using it since he had been used to pen and paper. Now the electronic was his everyday companion, even named—Pepper. Whatever projects were sent his way, he’d fidget with them and do a few off the bat upgrades. Or invent something, or work on the servers. During the downtimes, he’d be carrying the latest slick laptops to wherever he felt was best to work on and recently… It was in Wufei’s office.

There was a couch in there, hardly ever used at all, and a small side table with a potted plant. Very simple yet professional looking and Duo wondered why, no one ever came in here to actually consult with Wufei—hell he figured many avoided the young man. So his ass was making up for all of those poor souls that decided not to partake in such quiet company. As long as he did his work, his roommate didn’t mind the presence. Sometimes they would silently challenge each other to see who could type faster.

That day however, Duo came in at a more unusual time, closer to the evening where the last few hours were mainly about finishing off reports or receiving them at the last minute. The American mainly wanted to avoid his own working area due to some newer projects that came in—they started to give him an anxiety headache. So working on the last bits of server updates it was. Well, until he actually entered Wufei’s office and saw a small little device hanging off the left ear.

Wufei turned around, lifting an eyebrow. “You’re rather off your time.”

“…Uh, yeah I guess.” Duo was still standing at the doorway, staring at the little device on Wufei’s ear.

“What?”

“You’re listening to music?”

“…Yes?” Wufei slowly nodded, unsure why this was any surprise at all.

“Huh, never figured you’d… Uh…” Duo was trying to explain it, but lacked the proper words. A hand motioned around his own ear, eyes bouncing up as he tried to think of anything. But nothing came except the dull ache. He was tired. “Nevermind.” Giving up he finally shut the door behind him, claiming his usual spot on the couch.

“You seem out of it today.” Wufei turned back to his monitor, the blue gleam reflecting off his glasses. “Not enough coffee?”

“Probably.” Duo grumbled, opening the little laptop to an already bright screen. After a pause he looked back at his roommate. “Really, I never figured you as someone that would listen to music at work. Like isn’t that not something you should do?” He finally found his tongue.

“Technically.” Wufei shrugged, not looking away from what he was working on.

“And you, _Agent Chang Wufei_ , the very professional himself, is listening to music anyway?”

“What is it you usually say?” There was a pause from typing, dark eyes blinking then glancing over to Duo. “Excuse me for being a mere mortal?”

That earned a surprised and sincere ear to ear grin from Duo’s face.

“It’s almost time for me to leave and music helps me concentrate.” He glances back to his work, typing.

“This early? You usually leave like two hours after me! What’s this, did you do overtime?”

“No.” Wufei shook his head. “There are reasons for it.” Reasons he did not fully wish to elaborate on just yet. But he would soon so Duo would at least not make a mess out of their damn apartment. “Doesn’t matter, this just means we’ll be able to cook something proper tonight.”

The mention of food made Duo forget to ask more questions for the moment and get excited. “Oh hell yes! I have a suggestion for tonight.”

Wufei discreetly braced himself.

“I found a really good looking recipe. Something called bacon cheeseburger meatloaf or close to that!” The American felt rather cheerful suggesting this, especially since they could finally use the strips they bought.

“…That…sounds horrifying.” Whereas Wufei just leaned back on his chair, lifting his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

“I don’t think so!”

“You need better taste in food.”

“And you need to step down a notch.”

Wufei sighed. “Not for this bacon cheese… concoction.”

“Better than cold pizza.”

“No, it’s about as bad.”

“C’mon, what about just a simple meatloaf?” Duo complained as he typed on the laptop, looking for other recipes.

“Why are you stuck on this meatloaf thing?” Wufei sat up and watched as Duo mumbled a few things under his breath. “What is a meatloaf?”

Duo looked up surprised. “ _You seriously don’t know what a meatloaf is-?!_ ”

–

Leaving together should have felt awkward or at least strange since it was their first time, but none of those feelings crept up. Instead the two of them were busy discussing and questioning if a quick stop at the market was necessary or if they could wing it in the kitchen with what they had at the apartment. It ended with them boarding the Dart train, agreeing that they would try working with what they have.

The vehicle trembled a little when it departed, motor creaking slightly to a point that Duo had always tempted in calling the company so he could have a look at the trains—and fix them while he was at it—but doubted they would even let him near. They both picked a seat more towards the back where there was hardly anyone around.

“So I’m wondering…” Duo shoved his hands in his side pockets as he was rocked slightly by the train.

“This is worrisome.”

Duo rolled his eyes at the comment. “I just wanted to know what sort of music you listen to. Even when we were quiet, I couldn’t pick up anything.”

“There might be a few reasons for that.” Wufei glanced up. “You work around machinery. Surely that might have affected your hearing.” He pointed out. “Secondly, I never have it that loud to begin with.”

“I’m not that deaf.” Duo frowned, but took into consideration that maybe certain sounds could cause problems later. Maybe. “No seriously, I’m curious. What sorts of songs do you listen to?”

Wufei breathed in deep before taking off his ear piece and clicking on a small side button. It called up a holographic screen—it was his phone—where it showed his current playlist. It was a varied collection of favorite songs he enjoyed listening to for relaxation, however it was proving to be more like background music since Duo wouldn’t shut up.

The American leaned in to read some of the songs listed and quickly frowned at it. “Do any of these actually have singers in them? And I don’t mean opera or choir singers.”

“…” Wufei muttered a curse in Mandarin before sliding his thumb over the screen, looking for another playlist of his. One that would suit Duo’s tastes better for the sake of conversation. “Here.”

“Oh nice, so you do listen to the Bi Century Oldies!” Duo beamed at that. “Hey, pick a song for us!”

“Excuse me?”

“C’mon,” Duo pulled out his own ear piece and turned it on, programming it to sync with Wufei’s. “It’ll be fun. Impress me.” He winked at his roommate as he hooked his phone on his right ear.

Impress Duo? Huh. That discreet side smile he had crept up again before glancing down at his own screen to pick a song. Then he hooked his own phone of his left ear and waited for the song to start. A melancholic bass, guitar and piano started in a slow rhythm before any voice sung out.

And Duo’s smile reached his ears again. “Crash Test Dummies.”

Wufei nodded.

“Old time question here, but what do you think this song is about?” Duo side glanced his roommate.

“About fucked up children.” Blunt, but it was what he thought.

Duo nodded at that before he started to gently sway to the rhythm of the song, humming the lyrics gently. “ _Mmm mmm mmm mm… But both the girl and boy were glad, cause one kid had it worse than that…_ ”

The dart train’s mechanical voice then announced that they were arriving at their destination. Since they’d be walking together, Wufei didn’t feel the need to break off their phone’s sync and Duo seemed grateful for that—still humming the song. They both stepped off the train as the song ended and the next one started…

With a rather fast paced flute and guitar in the background. It made Duo gasp and quickly skip to the tune with a grin on his face. “ _We’re talkin’ about a thick necked man in the city! Build a pub a blood and sweat! Swears by God he’ll stand by justice—_ “ No, this wasn’t the gentle hum. Instead, it was an out loud holler of glee with unwarranted dance moves.

Wufei’s eyes went wide and he quickly tried to walk ahead.

“’Fei!”

“I don’t know you!”

“We’re roommates, ‘Fei!” Duo laughed, chasing the smaller pilot.

“If you keep this up, you won’t be!” Wufei’s ears were red in embarrassment, running up the elevator stairs and ignoring staring passerby’s.

“ _This money-minded son of a bitch will not a penny lend, and all I can do is pray to God he’ll suffer in the end!_ ” Duo ran after him, giddily singing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned are _Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm_ and _Thick-Necked Man_ from Crash Test Dummies.


End file.
